Imagine Cup Blog

June 2010 - Posts

• Are You Ready for Warsaw?

  With less than a few days to go before the Imagine Cup 2010 Worldwide Finals, how much do you know about this year’s host city? Warsaw is the capital of Poland and the ninth largest city in the European Union. Rebuilt by the Polish after it was destroyed in World War II, the city has had its fair share of ups and downs. Because of this, you’ll notice many different styles of architecture with both an Old and New town. See if you can spot examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical periods. Things to look out for: Warsaw Old Town quarter, including the Royal castle and market square Warsaw New Town Warsaw Mermaid, the symbol of the city which can be found on statues and on the coat of arms Where will you be visiting? The Finals will be taking place in a number of locations across Warsaw. These are some of the places you will be visiting: The Palace of Culture – The Palace of Culture (PKiN) will be the location of the opening ceremony, showcase and several competitions. This is the tallest building in Poland, the eighth largest in the European Union, and one not to be missed. Constructed between 1952-1955, it was as a gift from the Soviet Union designed by architect Lev Rudnev. Many visiting dignitaries have toured the Palace, and it also hosted performances by notable international artists, such as a 1967 concert by the Rolling Stones. Opera House – The Opera House will be a beautiful backdrop for the finalist presentations, elite showcase, world festival and awards ceremony. Also known as the Great Theatre this building is located on historic Theatre Square and is still the primary venue for opera, ballet and theatre performances in Poland.   Posted Jun 30 2010, 08:46 PM by Toddydyer with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Poland, Worldwide Finals, Warsaw

• Imagine Cup Video Blog #5: What to Expect in Poland

  On your mark, get set, let’s go to Poland! In this video Jon Perera and others on the Imagine Cup team discuss what to expect at the Worldwide Finals.  It’s going to be amazing.  Are you ready??? Posted Jun 30 2010, 03:26 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Finalists, Video, Global, Software Design, Worldwide Finals, Awards, Competition, Students, Technology, Resources, Jon Perera

• Jon Perera’s Imagine Cup Video Blog #4: Judging Process

  Learn more about how the Imagine Cup judges are chosen from the best technology minds in the world. Posted Jun 28 2010, 05:31 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Video, Worldwide Finals, Microsoft Learning, Competition, Students, Technology, Education, Jon Perera, Judging

• Imagine Cup Video Blog #3: Meet the Imagine Cup Team

  These are the people behind the scenes making the Imagine Cup so amazing every year! Take a minute and learn a bit more about who they are and what they do.     Posted Jun 22 2010, 04:50 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Welcome, Poland, Worldwide Finals, Competition, Technology, Resources, Jon Perera

• Imagine Cup Video Blog #2: Jon Perera Digs Games that Change the World

  Gaming isn’t just about playing games…okay maybe it is. But it can also be about changing perceptions, consumer habits and eventually the world. That is what the students are doing that entered this year’s Game Design competition at the Imagine Cup. Let’s take a deeper a look at their projects as we lead up to the Worldwide Finals in Warsaw, Poland this July.   Posted Jun 18 2010, 02:13 AM by editor with no comments

• CNN Highlights Kuwaiti All Women Software Design Team

  Check out this video featuring an interview with the Kuwaiti Software Design team MAA. This all women team developed a software program that helps people with hand and finger disabilities use the computer. They have developed this program and now, hope with the Imagine Cup success in the Gulf and  maybe even success at the Worldwide Finals, they can connect to the right companies and bring this program to market.  Hats off to each of the members of MAA! We will see you in Warsaw, Poland! Posted Jun 17 2010, 02:13 AM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Millennium Development Goals, Worldwide Finals, Student Profile, Students, Technology, Kuwait, Gulf

• A Little Imagination Can Create Unlimited Possibilities

  It’s amazing how a little imagination and forward thinking can change the world. Where would we be today without advances in medicine like the MRI, technology like PCs and the Internet, or communication devices like cell phones? To help cultivate creativity from around the globe, the finals for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is just around the corner. Imagine Cup is a student technology competition created to showcase innovative ideas that can change the world. More than 100 countries and regions are currently competing in Imagine Cup with the finals taking place July 3–8 in Warsaw, Poland. This year’s theme is to imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems. Once again, Windows Embedded has its own category at this year’s competition with the key theme being green technology and organizers have been blown away by the entries so far, which include ideas ranging from recycling, assisting the elderly, and creating a better living environment for everyone. Team T.M.D from Brazil is currently working on an innovative project built with Windows Embedded called “Recycle-Box.” The product would be equipped with sensors that can identify if trash is paper, plastic, glass or metal for easy separation. Combine this with a device that has wheels or limbs and you’ve got something right out of the future. Taiwan’s team, SmarterME, is creating on an advancement to the plain-old electronic smart meter you have at your home. This “Smarter Meter” would allow homeowners to view how much energy a specific appliance uses, and gives a more accurate reading of power consumption levels. In Bulgaria, team Krali Marko is developing a “Green Monitor,” which collects information from vehicles to better define when it’s ready for maintenance. For example, this monitor can let you know when your air filter needs to be changed, which helps reduce excessive air pollution. Even cooler is that it will also help users drive in a more environmentally friendly way by letting them know the best speed to drive in given areas. Team Vaccine from the United States is creating an embedded device and application to assist the World Health Organization (WHO) — as well as others — to make sure children being immunized are accurately monitored. This “Vaccine Tracker Application” would be made to increase the number of immunized children, and decrease the worldwide number of deaths from preventable diseases. The winner of the Embedded Development category will win $25,000, second place gets $10,000, and third walks away with $5,000. Interested in checking out all of the Imagine Cup finalists and vote for your favorite? You can vote for your favorite embedded project right now at the official Imagine Cup website. The Windows Embedded team will be onsite of the Imagine Cup and will be publishing stories every day. Stay tuned to the Windows Embedded Newsroom and the team’s Twitter feed for updates from the event. Posted Jun 16 2010, 05:59 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Countries, Poland, United States, Embedded Development, Worldwide Finals, Brazil, Competition, Students, Technology, Taiwan, Bulgaria

• Imagine Cup Video Blog #1: Jon Perera Discusses the People’s Choice Award

  We are now a month away from the Worldwide Finals in Warsaw, Poland and the finalist teams have been selected. Can you feel the excitement? We also just launched the People’s Choice competition highlighting the video entries from the Software Design finalists. Take a minute to watch Jon Perera, General Manager for Microsoft Education kick off the People’s Choice Award and don’t forget to vote! Posted Jun 09 2010, 02:04 AM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Software Design, Poland, People's Choice, Worldwide Finals, Awards, Students, Technology, Education, Jon Perera

• Vote to Help Students Solve the World’s Toughest Problems

  Do you think a social media application can help stop the spread of malaria? Could a mobile alert system help warn citizens of a looming natural disaster?  Can a mobile phone be used to detect vascular diseases like sickle cell anemia and type 1 diabetes? These are just a few of the projects designed by students competing in the Imagine Cup, a global technology competition focused on improving education, healthcare and the environment. These students all have one thing in common; they are going to change the world! Starting from a field of over 325,000 competitors from all over the world, only 400 have made it to the final stage and will attend the Worldwide Finals in Poland this summer. You can learn more about their projects, watch their videos, and vote to support your favorite team at www.imaginecup.com.   Open to students around the world, the Imagine Cup is a serious challenge that draws incredible talent, passion and perseverance. The event spans one year, beginning with local, regional and online competitions. The finalists go on to attend the Worldwide Finals held in a different location every year.  The intensity of the work brings students together, and motivates the competitors to rise above challenges and make an impact on the world. And let’s face it; the world could use a little changing.  We live in difficult times with a ton of problems raining down on people every day.  The real question is who is going to step up and do something about it? We think it’s you. Be sure to tune into www.imaginecup.com on July 8th to see who emerges as the “People’s Choice” champion. Posted Jun 08 2010, 11:29 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Finalists, Software Design, People's Choice, Worldwide Finals, Awards, Competition, Students, Technology

• FteamS Will Represent Poland at the Worldwide Finals

  The local Polish Imagine Cup finals recently took place May 18-19, determining who will represent the home team in Warsaw later this summer. In the Software Design category, 96 teams submitted entries and of those, only 10 teams were selected to showcase their projects in the local finals event. After an intense competition full of exciting projects, Team FteamS were selected as the winners for their project to help hearing impaired people communicate easier. You can check out more photos from the event here. Grand Prize Winner: Team FteamS Team FteamS took home the grand prize in the software design category at the local Poland finals and will have the opportunity to compete in the Worldwide Imagine Cup finals event taking place this July. Team FteamS describes their project: “Our project is revolution in communication between people with hearing impairment and the hearing. InterPeter is able to recognize special sign language used by deaf person without any special markers and in the same time it can translate written text to sign language.” 2nd Place: Team Mutant Team Mutant won second place in the software design category with project PULSE. Team Mutant describes their project: “Main aim of the PULSE project is to deliver complete platform for people requiring constant mobile health monitoring and instant health risk management. The availability of mobile technologies, and state of the art sensors, make the system for average men applicable in everyday life, especially in terms of cardiovascular diseases.”    3rd Place: Team Eradicators Team Eradicators won third place in the software design category. Team Eradicators describes their project: “We explore epidemic spreading, explain why it is so hard to stop and show how we could nail it before it nails us. We created an innovative software solution that utilizes state-of-the-art technology, advanced forecasting techniques and models. Our system can help hundreds of millions people per year. Widely deployed it can even destroy some diseases.” Internet Explorer 8 Award For this award, each participant created at least two add-ons for Internet Explorer 8. Add-ons could be an accelerator, visual search or web slice. Over 50 students registered for the Internet Explorer 8 and most of their work will become available for public use in the Internet Explorer 8 add-ons gallery. Posted Jun 07 2010, 07:49 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Countries, Software Design, Poland, Worldwide Finals, Awards, Students, Technology, Resources

• Team Think Green Wins Croatian Imagine Cup Finals

  The Croatian Imagine Cup 2010 Finals took place May 18th at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics in Varaždin. Congratulations to all of the participants and good luck to Team Think Green who will move on to the final stage of the global competition! 1st Place: Team “Think Green” Team “Think Green” won 1st prize and will represent Croatia in at the Worldwide Finals in Poland this July. Project “Think Green” “Think Green” was created to meet the agricultural market demand for new solutions. Think Green provides complete greenhouse independence, simplifies the process of food rowing, creates maximum income, and most importantly, works beyond geographical limitations of numerous crops. Think Green used the following technologies: Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, .Net Framework 4.0, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Expression Blend 3, Microsoft Silverlight 4, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, Microsoft Windows Azure, Microsoft Bing Maps and Microsoft Office 2010. 2nd Place: Team “I See You” Team “I See You” won 2nd place in the Croatian Finals. Project “I See You” Project “I See You!” is an application based on the Windows Mobile platform that provides appropriate notification to allow blind people to easily navigate the public transportation system. The system includes information on bus lines, bus routes, stations and bus schedules. 3rd Place: Team “The Refactorers” Team “The Refactorers” took 3rd place with their project called sTree. Project “sTree” Project sTree was developed to create a network of secure terminals which can be upgraded, maintained and controlled from one place. Posted Jun 07 2010, 07:43 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Finalists, Software Design, Poland, Worldwide Finals, Croatia, Students, Resources